Author: Victoria Antram
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Missouri judge rewrites ballot title for Amendment 3 that would repeal 2018 redistricting amendment
On August 17, 2020, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Patricia S. Joyce ruled against the ballot title drafted by the Missouri General Assembly for Amendment 3, the Redistricting Process and Criteria, Lobbying, and Campaign Finance Amendment. The lawsuit against the ballot title was filed by petition circulators for Clean Missouri, the campaign that sponsored Missouri…
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Montana voters to decide a pair of ballot initiatives that would legalize marijuana in November
Montana voters will decide an initiated constitutional amendment, CI-118, and an initiated state statute, I-190, that, together, would legalize marijuana in the state. CI-118 would amend the state constitution to allow for the legislature or a citizen initiative to establish minimum legal ages for the possession, use, and purchase of marijuana. I-190 would legalize the…
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Nebraska Payday Lender Interest Rate Cap Initiative qualifies for the November ballot
On July 31, 2020, the Nebraska Secretary of State completed the signature verification process for the Payday Lender Interest Rate Cap and announced on August 5 that it had qualified for the ballot. The initiative would limit the annual interest charged for delayed deposit services—also known as payday lending—to 36%. Sixteen other states and the…
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Voters decide local ballot measures in Wayne County, Michigan
Voters in Wayne County, Michigan, approved two property tax renewal propositions on Tuesday. Proposition O, the Operating Budget Property Tax Renewal, was approved with 77% of the vote. Proposition O authorizes the county to renew for 10 years a property tax levy of $95.29 per $100,000 in assessed property tax value to generate an annual…
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Fair Maps Nevada did not turn in signatures for its redistricting initiative by the extended August 3 deadline
Fair Maps Nevada, the campaign behind the Nevada Independent Redistricting Commission Initiative, did not submit signatures by the August 3 deadline. Originally the deadline was June 24, but it was extended by a court ruling. On July 24, 2020, Doug Goodman, founder and executive director of Nevadans for Election Reform; Sondra Cosgrove, chair of Fair…
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Voters in Gilbert, Arizona, approved the 2020 General Plan for city land development
Voters in Gilbert, Arizona, passed Proposition 430 on Tuesday approving the 2020 General Plan for city land development with 81.84% of the vote. Proposition 430 was put on the ballot through a vote of the Gilbert Town Council on March 3, 2020. The last general plan was approved in 2010. In 2020, Ballotpedia is covering…
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Voters in Platte County approved two sales tax measures, and voters in Hickman Mills C-1 School District approved a bond issue
Voters in Platte County, Missouri, approved two sales tax renewal questions on Tuesday. The final unofficial election report by the county showed Question 1 receiving 75.82% of the vote, and Question 2 receiving 60.81% of the vote. Question 1 authorizes the county to renew for 10 years a 0.25% sales tax to fund parks and…
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Missouri voters approve Amendment 2 to expand Medicaid
Missouri voters approved Amendment 2 in a vote of 53% to 47% on Tuesday. Amendment 2 was a citizen initiative to expand Medicaid eligibility in Missouri to adults that are between the ages of 19 and 65 whose income is 138% of the federal poverty level or below. In 2020, this amounted to an annual…
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Oregon Secretary of State verifies 59,000 signatures for redistricting initiative; courts to decide if it’s enough to qualify
On July 30, 2020, the Oregon Secretary of State’s office announced that People Not Politicians, the campaign behind the Independent State and Congressional Redistricting Commission Initiative, had submitted 59,493 valid signatures. People Not Politicians submitted its first batch of 64,172 unverified signatures on July 13. The campaign submitted an additional 1,819 signatures on July 17…
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Reclaim Idaho suspends signature drive after the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of Idaho state officials
On July 30, the U.S. Supreme Court put on hold a previous ruling allowing for electronic signatures and delaying a signature deadline. The court ruled in favor of Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) and granted an emergency stay on a lower court’s order until the appeal process is…